So after nearly 3 years of "I'm totally going to do this", I am finally totally going to do this. I'm making a mermaid fin.
Can I just start out by saying that I had no idea how hard it would be to come up with an original design?? I've tried my hardest to come up with an original sculpt that *hopefully* doesn't mimic other fin designs out there already.. but I'm still paranoid. Heck.
So basically, I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm doing it with gusto. I started and finished my scale sheet about a year ago and I finally just had time to start on the fluke. The fluke was going to be last summer's project but then work was like "Oh btw, mandatory 60 hr work weeks all summer". Fantastic, thanks guys!
For this sculpt I used approximately 15lbs of monster clay and heated each of the containers in the oven for 2 hours until they became a liquid consistency. I made a simple fin shaped cardboard wall over some parchment paper and had my bf jiggle the board while I poured the liquid monster clay into it. This gave it a relatively even surface and saved me the time of getting all of the clay leveled by hand. Monster clay is amazing because I was literally able to pry the clay fin completely off of the board and turn it over to remove the parchment paper. Its such durable clay.
Next I took my larger tools and started evening out the surface of the clay. I had a trace of my fin design on a separate sheet of paper which I would periodically place over the clay to check the shape. This entire sculpt was made using a takeaway technique because I thought that might give me a little more control over line consistency. Most art is trial and error but making this fin is such a high stakes project that I wanted to take my sweet time in making sure this would all turn out perfect the first time around. We'll see when the mold is done though!
More updates at a later time! I hope this is interesting or helpful to someone out there. I know I personally LOVE reading through peoples tail making threads to see the unique techniques people use. Y'all are so talented!
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Originally Posted by merwandering
well said 
. Lastly, I'm finishing up a modpodge coat on my scale sheet and finishing two extra fin sculpts. Tip: I've found that drywall is an excellent backboard for sculpting. Easy to cut, lightweight, and cheap. Just make sure to cover it with plastic, tape, or wax paper because resin will NOT come off of it if directly molded on. I learned the hard way.
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